Damariscotta Baptist Church

 

 

Today’s Scripture begins a section of Isaiah written between the third and fourth so-called “Servant Songs.” This in-between section has three stages. 

> The first stage we are reading today handles the question as to why God seems to have forgotten the Israelites and hasn’t freed them from Babylon yet. 

> The second stage will affirm the Israelites that their oppressors will eventually suffer, and 

> The third stage assures the Israelites that they indeed will be delivered from captivity. 

The beginning of each of these stage begins with “Awake, awake,” and includes a motif of the “arm of the LORD.” 

This morning, we begin with verses 9-11, which presents the question, 

“What are you waiting for God?” 

The whole community seems to be putting forth a lament which expresses both doubt and hope. They are calling for God to wake up! All their lives they have been reminded that God was the One who redeemed Israel from Egypt, so there was no doubt the LORD was able to redeem them from Babylon. So why wasn’t He? Why doesn’t He come and rescue them? Had they been forgotten? 

Then we read a verse about Rahab being cut to pieces and the piercing of a monster. When I first read this I wondered if I had missed something in the story of Rahab who had helped the two spies escape out of Jericho. This is where a good commentary comes in. This mention of Rahab is a reference to a Babylonian and Canaanite mythological imagery of a sea monster, named Rahab, who was symbolic for Egypt. 

Back to the Israelites who were impatiently waiting for the arm of the LORD to swing into action. 

Verse 11 completes the question with a confidence that God will act and they are looking forward to that day. A day when “the ransomed” will return to “Zion with singing.” But what was the hold up? Why was He waiting so long?

This seems to me to be a viable question. I find myself wondering the same question, especially on days that seem endless and difficult. And when you are in the midst of “captivity” or difficulties, or having to “wait” for an answer, time seems to go on forever. 

Verses 12-16, give the LORD’s answer and it’s not what they wanted to hear. In fact, God doesn’t even come right out and answer the question directly. However, He does respond to their concern by calling on the captives to take their eyes off their circumstances and put them back on Him. Notice the double “I” in verse 12. This is significant, as it is a reminder that as the Creator of all things, His chosen people should be paying more attention to Him than to the things God created, especially mere mortals, who are little more than “grass.” 

And another point, who is the one that seeks to “comfort” them? God reminds them that it makes little sense to put their focus on the oppressor because soon he will be gone. The oppressor’s focus is “bent on destruction” and in the big scheme of things, the oppressor will be destroyed. He may act like he rules the world, for now, but when it comes right down to it, the amount of time the oppressor is in control is but a pinprick in the scope of eternity. God has a plan and the way in which redemption will be given was through a suffering Servant. God is not constricted by time, like we are. However, it doesn’t mean He doesn’t understand our constraints, because His plan was to become like us, in order to save us. He definitely comprehends our struggles. 

Again, not much has changed today. We may think we are more sophisticated than those in Babylon but the truth is, all that sophistication has not kept us from being people “bent on destruction.” In fact, it has made it worse. 

Today we have the ability to impose even more oppressive force in ways that nearly wipe out entire nations. The terrors of Auschwitz and the “killing fields” of Cambodia come to mind. Were we to have been Jewish or Cambodian, in Germany or Cambodia at that time, I am sure we would have heard the questions of “Awake, awake, O arm of the LORD,” or “How long oh LORD?” being muttered continuously. 

Why doesn’t God answer when we want Him to? 

I don’t know. 

However, here’s what I do know. 

God does not leave us without an alternative. We have a choice. We can choose to serve an almighty, all powerful Creator, who has continually acted justly, and in all things will balance the books, where evil does not win. Or we choose to believe in humanity, which has proven throughout history to only end up serving itself. 

If humans are the ultimate, we are in trouble. If there is a good and just God, we have hope that oppression will not win, and can be overcome. 

I find Scripture to be comforting in that when we read it and study it, we discover it is not a book of platitudes that put the “rights’ on one side and the “wrongs” on the other. Instead, it reminds us that life exists of living in the gray. Today’s lament demonstrates that there is a bridge between two attitudes in life that are often seen as excluding each other. The attitudes of doubt and hope. Often these feelings are seen as opposites. How many of us have heard that if we entertain doubts, than we have lost our faith, which then means we are without hope? I grew up in such a belief system. This didn’t mean you didn’t have doubts. What it meant was you were never allowed to face your doubts because in order to be a good Christian you were forced to convince yourself that you didn’t doubt, but that you believed all the time. This only produces superficiality, not faith. 

Then there are those who are so overwhelmed by their doubts, maybe because they are so undeniable, that they conclude that faith is impossible for them. If you are in either of those positions, this lament was meant for you. 

Today’s Scripture demonstrates that doubt and faith are not mutually exclusive. They can exist together, and the truth be told, they often do. However, if you know your New Testament you may be thinking, “But what about when James says we, “must believe and not doubt.” in verse 6 of chapter 1? There are different types of doubting, and for sure, James was warning us not to doubt in such a way that we demand proof before we surrender our doubt. For this would be putting doubt above our faith. Rather, the doubt we are reading about in this lament is the type that contains uncertainty, and is sincerely seeking to believe. Such as in Mark 9:24, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.” 

How often do we put faith in a box and try to protect it by thinking we cannot have any questions about God or His actions, because if we do, it will mean we are lacking faith? Or, what is just as bad, we may think that if we really had faith, well, then we would have no anxieties, we should never worry. Today’s lament reveals that doubt and faith can exist together. We can be sure God is going to do what He says and that one day we will be singing in Zion. At the same time, as we live here on earth, we can honestly anguish over the fact that God’s timing sometimes stinks. When it comes right down to it, who are we fooling? God is omniscient and knows how we feel anyway. We should allow ourselves to be honest with our feelings, and by doing so it doesn’t mean we are denying the hope God gives us through Jesus Christ, the Servant. 

Yet, there are times in our lives when despair, unanswered prayers and hopelessness can take over and overwhelm even the most faithful. What then? 

Isaiah answers that question by reminding us where we should put our focus. Isaiah doesn’t tell the Israelites to deny what was happening around them. Instead, he tells them to take their eyes off their circumstances, and put them on the Creator/Redeemer. Isaiah knows that when we keep our eyes on the bad things around us, they can quickly overwhelm us. It’s not that we are supposed to ignore them, we are called to live in this world, but not of this world. Isaiah reminds us to put our focus on who created the world, the One whose character, nature and will is for our good. This allows us to still have questions, to recognize that some of our questions will not be answered, and yet, we still live with the hope that the One who listens to our doubts and questions, ultimately says, “Yes.” 

2 Corinthians 1:20 New International Version (NIV)
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

I find it confirming that Isaiah was the one who wrote this lament. He would have felt this dilemma more than anyone because he was a prophet who preached his heart out to his people, and his own generation turned from him and from God. That is a tough “why” question, that Isaiah must have lamented with God. And yet he followed his own advice. Chapter 8:12-14,

This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people:

“Do not call conspiracy

    everything this people calls a conspiracy;

do not fear what they fear,

    and do not dread it.

The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,

    he is the one you are to fear,

    he is the one you are to dread.

 

 

 

He will be a holy place;

    for both Israel and Judah he will be

a stone that causes people to stumble

    and a rock that makes them fall.

And for the people of Jerusalem he will be

    a trap and a snare.

Many of them will stumble;

    they will fall and be broken,

    they will be snared and captured.”

Bind up this testimony of warning

    and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.

I will wait for the Lord,

    who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob.

I will put my trust in him.

Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.

 

May we, like Isaiah, say, “Here am I.” in the midst of our doubts and faith. 

 

Let’s pray.